Past, Present and Future
by Vanessa Gordon
Summary: Robin's past was with Batman and Batgirl in Gotham, and his present is with the Titans in Jump City.  But when the confrontation with the Brotherhood of Evil brings these two worlds together, what's going to be his future?
1. Something Big

Robin was bent over his desk, shuffling through papers, looking for some sort of clue. Something big was going on. He just wasn't quite sure what yet. He heard a knock on the door.

"Robin?" Starfire's voice asked. "We are considering ordering the take-out. Would you like some?"

"I'm fine, thanks," he replied without taking his eyes off the papers strewn all over his desk. He heard Starfire leave. Suddenly his thought process was disturbed by a loud beeping noise. He checked his communicator, and it was silent. He checked his pager, computer, phone, and alarm clock for good measure. He was now officially annoyed. The sound appeared to be coming from his closet. He walked in, checking each of his uniforms carefully. There wasn't anything in any of his boots, or extra uniforms. Finally, when he had thrown everything else out of his closet he found a small box, which was lighting up with each beep. He couldn't even remember what was in that box.

He emerged from his closet, noting the mess he'd made. He **hated** it when his room was messy. He was going to have to fix that later. He placed the box on his bed, carefully opening it. In it were all his old gadgets. There were baterangs, anti-freeze pills, his old gas mask, and finally, a small black ear plug, beeping incisively. He put it in, surprised it still fit.

"ROBIN WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" a girl's voice immediately growled in his head.

"Hi Babs," he replied. "Sorry but my stuff—"

"Never mind. I'll be there in ten," with that, Batgirls voice disappeared. Robin stood there stunned. Then something stuck him. **His room was a total disaster and Babs would be here in ten minutes!** Quickly he started throwing everything back into his closet, in an uncharacteristically messy fashion.

~8~

Batgirl pulled up in front of Titan Tower on her motorcycle, quickly rushing into the tower and out of the rain. When she arrived in the main room, she could tell the Titans were surprised.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," said Starfire, even she was too surprised to be overly friendly.

"I need to talk to Robin," Batgirl said.

"Um, that's not such a good idea right now," Beastboy said. "He's sorta in one of his 'I'm going to shut myself in my room and not come out for days' moods." Batgirl nodded.

"I've dealt with that before," she told him, turning around and walking back down the hall to Robin's room. The other Titans followed apprehensively. She banged on the door. There was a crash, then some shuffling noises. Then Robin opened the door.

"Hi," he said. Batgirl just raised an eyebrow. "What do you need to talk about?" He stepped aside allowing her to enter the room. The door slid shut behind her, leaving the rest of the Titans in the hall, catching flies in their mouths.

"Why are you all wet?" he asked.

"It's raining," she replied. "So you've started shutting yourself up in your room?"

"Well, something's going on, and I've got to figure out what it is!" Batgirl sighed. She'd been hoping to stall for more time, but he was already onto what she'd come to talk about.

"What do you have?" she asked him.

"Just a bunch of random stuff. Villains coming out of the woodwork, people who I didn't even thought knew each other working together, complex schemes carried out by a bunch of idiots…" he sighed. "Someone's got to be behind it, but it can't just be one person, and I-" he saw the look on Batgirl's face. "This is what you're here about, isn't it?"

"You aren't going to like this," she told him.

"What is it?" Robin had to know. How had she managed to outwit him again?

"It's the Brotherhood of Evil," she told him. Immediately his face flushed. That meant the Justice League had to be involved, which meant…

"So Batman's trying to keep me out of this, isn't he?" he growled.

"Superman," she corrected. "He thinks you're too young. Actually, he thinks we're all too young. However, Batman managed to bring him around after that attack by Poison Ivy—"

"POISON IVY? That was months ago! And what does this have to do with…" he stopped mid rant. "They sent her here?" Batgirl could see the gears going in his head. "Why?"

"Well, their objective is usually to rid the world of superheros," she reasoned.

"So this is somehow going to relate to that..."

"But Poison Ivy isn't really a threat…"

"Maybe we are." Robin and Batgirl locked eyes. That was it. They both raced from Robin's room, nearly running over the rest of the Titans who were clearly trying to listen through the door, and into the main room. In a few seconds, they were staring at Batman and Superman on the screen.

"Batgirl," Batman started, clearly annoyed. It occurred to Robin that maybe she wasn't supposed to tell him.

"We figured it out," Batgirl cut him off, "The Poison Ivy attack." Both superhero's looked surprised.

"They wanted to know how much of a threat we were," Robin said. When they looked confused, he corrected, "The Titans." Batman caught on instantaneously, and seemed to smile faintly at the two of them.

"So you think the Brotherhood of Evil is after the Titans because you took out Poison Ivy?" Superman asked.

"No, they're after us because I'm sure Poison Ivy gave a very biased report," Robin explained.

"She loves Robin, she's never say that he beat her. She always blames things on me, she hates me," Batgirl elaborated.

"So the Brotherhood thinks we're a weak link!" Robin exclaimed.

"Which is why they've started aiming some attacks at the Titans," Batgirl finished. "We know their planning something big, this must be it!" The Justice League looked at each other.

"Give us a second," Superman said, cutting the audio. They then seemed to launch into an argument.

"The Brotherhood of Evil?" Cyborg exclaimed. "That sounds really bad!" Then the audio came back on.

"We think you are probably right," Superman said. "Don't worry, we're on it."

"Wait, we can handle this!" Robin yelled.

"Robin's right, the Titans need to stick up for themselves!" Batgirl agreed.

"The only way to prevent this from being a reoccurring problem is for the Titans to show the Brotherhood they are not a weak link," Batman agreed. With Batman on their side, they knew they'd won.

"Alright," Superman conceded. "But I won't have the Justice League left out of this completely. So, since you two make _such_ a great team," (_Yeah, she wasn't supposed to tell me, _Robin thought.) "Batgirl, you're staying with the Titans until this is sorted out." With that, the two leaders of the Justice League disappeared from the screen.


	2. Trust

All the Titans immediately stared at Batgirl, uncertain of what to say next.

"Um," Batgirl said, as shocked as they were. "I'll just go outside for a minute." She turned and left, immediately starting to tap her ear piece.

"He can't just stick a member into the Titans!" Cyborg exclaimed as soon as the door closed.

"I don't know, I kinda like her," Beastboy said.

"That's not the point!" Cyborg continued. "I like her too, but who does he think he is, just sticking her on our team like that!"

"Superman," Raven said flatly. "Leader of the Justice League, which basically has authority over all superheroes."

"Thanks for the positive input," Cyborg grumbled. Raven glared at him.

"Perhaps she would make a positive addition to the team," Starfire suggested, friendly as always.

"Like our last addition to the team?" Raven asked, still calm as ever. The immediate silence in the room verified that she had struck the real reason no one wanted to get a new member. Terra was still too fresh in their minds.

"I think we take a vote," Cyborg said. "Who thinks we don't need—" Cyborg, Starfire and Beastboy had all started to raise their hands.

"**Superman** put her on the Titans," Raven reminded them unhappily, but then again she never really sounded happy. They lowered their hands.

"Robin, would you say something already?" Cyborg snapped, annoyed by this apparent dead end. "You're our leader, you should be pissed!"

"Calm down Cy," Robin said. "I'm not thrilled, believe me, but Superman's not really someone you want to mess with. Anyway, if the Brotherhood of Evil really is after us, we could use some help." Beastboy and Cyborg both seemed scandalized.

"Robin, we are not letting her on the team just because you have a crush on her!" Cyborg yelled.

"I DO NOT," Robin yelled. "I haven't for a couple years now, ALRIGHT?"

"I agree that this is a bad idea," Starfire said, having tensed as soon as Cyborg mentioned Robin's old crush.

"Yeah, we barely know her—" Robin cut Beastboy off.

"SHE IS NOT TERRA!" he yelled. "She knows what she's doing, I've known her for **years**, and SHE'S A MEMBER OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE!" Robin calmed himself down, while the rest of his team stared at him uncertainly. "I trust her completely, okay?" Everyone look uncertainly at him for a while.

"Robin, this doesn't change that it's not fair that Superman can just stick someone on our team without us having a say about it," Cyborg said, more subdued than last time.

"I know," Robin replied. "But if I know Batgirl, she's just as mad at Superman right now as we are. So we shouldn't take our anger out on her." The rest of the Titans looked at each other.

"Okay then," Cyborg consented.

"Hey, we can learn more embarrassing secrets from your past!" Beastboy exclaimed excitedly. Robin blanched, Raven glared at him disapprovingly. Starfire walked over and opened the door.

"I'm really sorry guys," Batgirl said, walking into the room. "I just appealed to everyone I could think of and got nowhere. I guess you're—" She was cut off by a giant hug from Starfire.

"Friend Batgirl, welcome to our team!" she exclaimed excitedly. Batgirl looked quite surprised.

"Er," she said. "Thanks Starfire." When Starfire still didn't release her, she choked out, "Can't breathe." Immediately she let go.

"So, you guys are okay with this?" Batgirl asked uncertainly.

"Well," Cyborg said, "we're pretty mad at Superman, but Robin pointed out that we can't blame you."

"Thanks," she said, smiling.

"I will prepare a traditional welcoming feast!" Starfire exclaimed, still excited.

"Why don't we order takeout pizza," Raven suggested. The rest of the Titans quickly agreed, since none of them wanted to eat Starfire's cooking.

~8~

All six of them were sitting around the table, having just finished their pizza.

"So what are we going to do to combat the Brotherhood of Evil?" Beastboy asked, looking at Robin.

"We don't really even know what they want yet," Robin said. "So, I guess we…" He looked at Batgirl. She just shrugged.

"I think we're going to have to figure out what they're trying to do first," she said.

"So for now we just need to be ready," Robin said. "I call a combat training session tomorrow."

~8~

The next day found the Titans and Batgirl standing outside of Titan Tower.

"So, where's Robin?" Beastboy asked. "I could still be sleeping now!"

"Yeah, he could at least show up…" Cyborg started, but was interrupted when several lasers went off. Cyborg and Beastboy were thrown backwards, Raven disappeared into the ground, Starfire swooped away, and Batgirl flipped out of the way, jumping off a rock. She caught their attacker by the neck, shoving him to the ground.

"Ouch, Babs, let go," Robin grumbled from the ground.

"Sorry," she said, helping him up. Starfire swooped back down, Raven appeared once more, while Cyborg and Beastboy got back up and walked over.

"Good reaction time," he said, dusting himself off.

"You spiky-haired little," Cyborg grumbled. "You shot lasers at us?"

"You should be prepared for a sneak attack just in case," Robin said. "Cyborg, Beastboy, you need to work on your reactions."

"**You** need to stop shooting lasers at us!" Beastboy exclaimed. "We can't all phase through the earth and stuff!"

"Um," Batgirl started. "You know that I don't have powers, right?" Beastboy just looked at her uncertainly, trying to figure out a response. He was saved the trouble when everyone began blinking.

"Trouble," Robin exclaimed, turning and racing back to the Tower with the rest of the Titans.

"Trouble?" Batgirl muttered as she followed. Soon they reached the main room, where the screen had a flashing 'H' on it.

"Hive five, down town," Robin said, before turning and leading the Titans back downstairs.


	3. Hive Five

The Titans pulled up outside the downtown movie theater complex, out of which people were fleeing. Batgirl pulled up next to them, leaping off her bat-cycle.

"I didn't think the movies were **this** bad," Beastboy joked as they got out of the car. Raven glared at him. Raven, Starfire and Beastboy flew into the theater, Raven carrying Cyborg, Starfire carrying Robin. Batgirl just frowned, and started fighting her way through the fleeing crowd. The Titans found the Hive Five in the lobby. Jinx, Kid Wicked and See-more were terrorizing the patrons, Gizmo was rewiring the movie projection system, while Mammoth and Billy Numerous raided the concession stand.

"Stop right there," declared Robin as the Titans swooped down. The six young villains stopped to look at the Titans.

"We were wondering when you'd show up," Gizmo sneered in his nasal voice.

"We were getting bored," Jinx smiled falsely. "Now things might be more exciting." Batgirl shoved her way out of the crowd, causing the "five" to momentarily falter.

"You guys had to call in back up?" Gizmo recovered. Batgirl regarded them skeptically.

"I thought you said this was the H.I.V.E. Five?" she asked.

"We're the H.I.V.E. Five!" See-more declared indignantly.

"So you guys just all failed pre-school and can't count?" Batgirl mocked. "And I thought that Penguin was stupid…" Robin smiled, but the six villains glared at her murderously. Jinx fired a pink spell at her, Batgirl nimbly flipped out of the way, reaching to her belt and throwing two disks at Jinx before landing in a crouch. Jinx ducked, and the two disks flew past her, one on each side. She smirked at Batgirl.

"Flying disks? So you're just a copy cat Robin?" Jinx teased. "Nice aim by the way." Batgirl just smiled back, standing up. Suddenly the disks collided with Jinx from behind and she froze solid.

"Boomerangs," Batgirl corrected, her smile changing into a smirk. The remaining five villains looked mildly horrified, then tensed, turning to the titans.

"Titans Go!" Robin exclaimed. Mammoth ran at Beastboy, knocking him backwards, Starfire flew forward and engaged See-more, while Kid Wicked started shooting energy at Raven, and Gismo ran back to the theaters while Cyborg perused him. Robin found himself surrounded by about 20 Billy Numerouses. He groaned; he really hated fighting Billy, the duplication thing got really annoying. He took down about six, but a seventh caught him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

"Want a hand?" Batgirl asked, pulling him back up after throwing the Billy duplicate into several others.

"Thanks," he replied, and the two stood back to back.

"So how are we going to take these guys?" Batgirl asked him, socking one guy in the face.

"We've gotta find the real Billy," he said. She reached out and grabbed his arm, he grabbed her forearms too, and spun, whirling Batgirl around, knocking down everyone within a five foot radius. He set her down, and he couldn't help but smile at how they could still practically share thoughts.

"Well, we've got some breathing room," Batgirls said, standing behind him once more. Robin looked around: they were now surrounded by dozens of identical Billy copies. He snatched a handful of disks from his belt and started throwing them at the crowd. Batgirl also chucked about seven disks at the crowd. Several Billy's froze when Robin's disk collided with them, but they disappeared. Batgirl's disks turned into ropes in mid air, wrapping themselves around several Billys. Suddenly the ropes flashed red upon making contact, and all the copies disappeared, and Billy fell on his face, bound head to toe.

"Nice one," Robin announced. Raven had taken down Kid Wicked, Gismo was grumbling in his high-pitched voice at Cyborg's feet, and Starfire had just blasted See-more out of the sky. It looked like they had won. Then he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to notice and jump out of the way of a giant chunk of rock that had been thrown at him. "Cinderblock?"

"Another of your friends?" Batgirl asked.

"Not really," he told her. Suddenly Jinx came at Batgirl from behind, since the rock had broken her out of the ice. "Look out!" Batgirl spun, blocking her attack and countering. Robin started forward to help.

"I'm fine, go deal with the rock!" she exclaimed, grabbing Jinx's arm and twisting it behind her back. Robin nodded and went after Cinderblock. He chucked several exploding disks, creating a cloud of smoke, through which he flew and kicked Cinderblock in the face. Cinderblock groaned and fell backwards, crashing to the ground. However, the impact knocked Beastboy over, giving Mammoth the opportunity to grab him. Beastboy turned into an eel, and shocked Mammoth until he passed out.

"Um, what's Cinderblock doing here?" Beastboy asked. Robin shrugged. Over on the other side of the lobby, Gismo had taken advantage of the distraction to zap Starfire, causing her to fall out of the air onto Cyborg. Robin and Beastboy started to race over to help, running right past where Batgirl and Jinx were grappling with each other. See-more shot a blast at Robin, but leapt out of the way. See-more took advantage of this and started running towards the door, blasting at Beastboy on his way. Beastboy turned himself into a turtle to get out of the way, and the beam flew over his head just as Batgirl threw Jinx to the ground, and the beam collided directly into her chest.

"Babs!" Robin exclaimed as she crumpled to the ground. See-more picked up a punch-drunk Jinx, and he and Gismo sprinted from the building while Kid Wicked absorbed Billy Numerous and Mammoth into a portal and they disappeared. Robin reached Batgirl and rolled her over so she was lying on her back. She was grimacing in pain, but she appeared to still be conscious.

"Ow," she muttered, breathing shallowly.

"Anything broken?" he asked, carefully checking for broken ribs. Slowly she got her breathing back to normal.

"Knocked the wind out of me," Batgirl said, sitting up. "Hurts like the devil, but I think I'm okay." Robin stood, offering her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up. "Thanks, Dick." The rest of the Titans ambled over. Starfire looked a little dazed, Cyborg was grumbling about Gizmo frying his circuits, and Raven looked annoyed. Beastboy changed back into himself, and looked around the smashed up lobby.

"At least we got Cinderblock," he said cheerfully.


	4. Rivalries

**A/N: Sorry that it's been a long wait, but I've started school again and hw is affecting my writing time. Also sorry this chapter's so short, but I'm going to write a long one next time!**

The Titans sat on the couch of Titan Tower. Cyborg and Beastboy were once more playing some video game, Starfire was watching excitedly, and Raven was meditating. Robin sat in the middle of the couch, with his head in his hands.

"I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" Batgirl's yells drifted in from the hall. Robin looked up as she stormed into the room. "Stupid muscle-head," she muttered. "'Don't know what I'm doing?' I'll show you, you obnoxious little… just because I don't have powers." Robin shot her a look. "What?"

"You find anything out?" he asked, choosing to ignore her mumbling. She scowled again.

"Superman's pissed at me, so I know better than to try to get him to tell me anything," she grumbled. "I couldn't contact Batman, and Supergirl has taken up an obnoxious superior attitude and won't talk to me, and she's persuaded the other young heroes who Superman wouldn't have gotten to not to talk to me."

"That sucks," Robin observed. "Do you think I could…?" Batgirl cut him off with a look. "So do you think the H.I.V.E. Five are working for the Brotherhood of Evil?"

"I wouldn't rule it out," she reasoned. "Working indirectly does seem to be their style." Robin nodded.

"Then I say we go find them and have them tell us about the Brother Hood of Evil," declared Cyborg. "Let's go!"

"Doesn't that seem a little rushed," Raven said.

"Cyborg's right," Robin agreed, starting to walk towards the door with him. "We need to take action."

"No, Robin, you can't let the Brotherhood get to you like Slade," Starfire exclaimed, rushing forward and blocking the door.

"I'm **not** letting them get to me," Robin snapped. "But I'm not going to let anyone mess with us."

"Yeah, we need to show these guys whose boss!" Cyborg agreed, punching his hand. Raven frowned at them both.

"I agree with Starfire. We need to think this through," she announced in monotone. "We can't rush into things."

"We have to do something!" Robin exclaimed, trying to push his way past them.

"Robin, please listen to us!" Starfire tried again, easily preventing him from passing. "We-" Batgirl grabbed his shoulder, yanking him around to face her.

"Grayson, stop being an idiot," she snapped. "What do you think they're trying to get you to do? They **want** you to go after them, to go find them so they don't have to come find you. They want to fight on **their** terms. **Don't** fight them on their terms, or you'll lose." Robin's expression softened.

"Fine," he conceded, walking back and sitting on the couch. "I guess we just rest until they try again then." Raven nodded, and walked off to her room.

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" Beastboy exclaimed, jumping onto the couch and grabbing his videogame controller, while Cyborg put in their favorite game.

"I'm going outside," Robin declared, getting up from between Cyborg and Beastboy and walking out of the room. Starfire shot Batgirl an evil eye then followed him.

~8~

"I KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO DO!" Beastboy exclaimed, running into the common room. Starfire, Robin and Cyborg looked up from the couch. Raven opened one eye, annoyed. Batgirl turned away from the computer.

"No Beastboy, we are not going out for pizza again," Robin said seriously. Beastboy moped.

"Awwww," he wined, then bounced back. "But that's not what I meant! We should go to the boardwalk!"

"Because that went **so** well last time," Raven snapped sarcastically.

"But they've added new rides," he coaxed, waving the poster in front of him. The Titans looked at each other uncertainly.

"We aren't doing anything anyway," Robin said, shrugging.

"Are there rides?" asked Batgirl. Beastboy consulted his poster just in case.

"Yeah, several of them. There's even a new roller-coaster," Beastboy announced. Batgirl smiled.

"Sounds like this could be fun," Cyborg said, smiling too. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with a good ride

"I guess it sounds good," Robin decided. "What do you think Star?" Starfire frowned for a minute, then cast a quick glare at Batgirl, and turned back to Robin, smiling.

"Sounds like fun!" she declared. "Let's go tonight!"

"I guess I'll come too then," Raven acknowledged.

"Awesome!"


	5. Pier

"Here we are!" Beastboy exclaimed as the six teens walked onto the pier.

"Who's doing what?" Robin asked.

"I suggest we go on the Ferris wheel!" Starfire declared. Cyborg and Batgirl exchanged a look.

"Rollercoaster!" they both exclaimed.

"But I want to play carnival games!" Beastboy said.

"What about you, Raven?" Batgirl asked.

"I'd like to see the haunted house," Raven said.

"We've got consensus on the Rollercoaster though, so we do that first," Cyborg said.

"I don't want to go on the rollercoaster!" Starfire said. "Why don't you go on the rollercoaster while we go on the Ferris wheel?"

"Okay," Robin said. "We can meet at the carnival games when we're done." Cyborg, Batgirl Beastboy and Raven started off for the rollercoaster, while Starfire happily grabbed his arm and marched off to the Ferris wheel. "Wait, I…" he trailed off as he was drug away.

~0~

Starfire and Robin sat at the top of the Ferris wheel, Starfire leaning her head on Robin's shoulder.

"Um, Star, I…" he started, trailing off uncertainly.

"Yes?"

"Isn't the Big Dipper cool?" he asked, pointing at the constellation. She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder again. _Really? Isn't the Big Dipper cool? Idiot!_ He sighed. He'd really rather go on the rollercoaster. It was way more exciting, and you didn't have to make small talk on a rollercoaster. _I bet Babs is having way more fun than I am right now._ He shook his head. _But so are Cyborg and Beastboy and … well probably not Raven, but diffidently Cyborg and Beastboy. Why did Babs pop into my head first?_

"Robin?" Starfire asked, looking up at him.

"What's up Star?"

"Isn't this nice?"

"Um, sure I guess…" he spluttered, not sure of how to respond. She beamed at him.

"You know, Robin, I really…" All the lights on the pier suddenly cut out and the Ferris wheel stopped moving.

"This isn't good," Robin remarked, looking around. He started to stand, but collided with the lap bar, pitching the compartment forward dangerously.

"Be careful!" Starfire exclaimed, grabbing him.

"Give me a second," he said, leaning over and fumbling with the release, finally succeeding in getting it undone. "Come on, we better go see what's going on." She nodded, reaching out and grabbing his arm, flying them both down to the ground. They reached the ground, and noticed that all the people weren't milling around anymore. They were running from something behind them, leaving the pier. Immediately Robin and Starfire rushed towards the end of the pier, looking for whoever was attacking. Suddenly the rollercoaster rushed by, the passengers screaming their heads off. Robin stopped.

The rollercoaster operated on momentum. It wouldn't stop just because the power cut. But the breaks would! _BABS!_

"Star, we need to stop the rollercoaster!" he yelled, reversing direction.

"Look!" Starfire pointed as Overload appeared, sparking dangerously. He was banging against the main power box. If he got into that, he'd electrocute everyone on the rides. Robin set himself. They'd have to stop him. Hopefully Babs could stop the coaster.

~0~

Batgirl climbed into the front seat of the rollercoaster with Cyborg, Beastboy and Raven. She smiled, pulling the restraint over her head and ensuring it held her tightly in place.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!" Beastboy yelled.

"I'm so excited," Raven replied sarcastically.

"Four loopty loops, two corkscrews and it starts with a 125 foot drop!" Cyborg declared, grinning ear to ear. He almost seemed as excited as when he was talking about the t-car. They lurched forward, going down a small drop, and then starting to slowly climb up the steep incline.

"This is going to be awesome," Beastboy said. Batgirl smiled, nodding. They reached peak, and they felt the car slide off the track. They dropped down a small initial drop as the rest of the car disengaged. All the lights cut out, and they pitched forward. _Oh crap. _Beastboy and Cyborg were both screaming. As soon as the g-force cut enough that she managed to move, Batgirl reached for her tool kit.

"What's going on?" she heard Beastboy yell as they went into the initial loop.

"The power's down!" Cyborg replied.

"That means no breaks!" Batgirl clarified, finding her tool. They went through another loop and she nearly dropped it. As soon as the world returned to normal orientation, she started working on the locking mechanism.

"We'll stop when we get back to the initial drop," Raven said, her voice still monotone. The rest of the passengers were screaming wildly.

"But we'll encounter the other car before that," Batgirl said, still working at the mechanism. They jerked around a turn, dropping suddenly. "Ow!" she winced as she accidently stabbed her finger. Her restraint released.

"What are you doing?" asked Cyborg.

"Forming a plan," she replied. They went into a corkscrew.

"Ahhhh," she clung to the seat for dear life.

"Are you okay?" Cyborg asked, looking over, trying to see around his restraint.

"Fine," she replied shortly, surveying the situation. "Tell me when our orientation changes."

"Loop!" Beastboy yelled. She clung to her seat, dangling from the car as they flipped upside down.

"Raven, stop the cart!" Cyborg exclaimed. Raven raised her hands, and the cart turned black, but suddenly a spark came through the metal and into the restraints. Raven and Beastboy both jerked a couple times, and fell unconscious. Cyborg's head hung down, his mechanical parts going black.

_Great._ Batgirl was glad she wasn't wearing her restraint anymore. Quickly she leaned over the side of the cart, starting to work on its breaking mechanism. They went into another corkscrew, and she was forced to grasp the seat with both hands to keep from falling, causing her to drop her tool.

"What's going on?" Cyborg asked, having restarted himself. Batgirl pulled herself back up into her seat.

"We're in trouble." Batgirl said. _The bat glue!_ She remembered, pulling a tube from her belt. _I swear I'll never question your inventions again if this works, Bruce!_ They went into the final loop, and she dumped the whole tube down onto the track below. The cart flew through the rest of the turn, stopping suddenly at the bottom as the glue instantly bonded it to the track. Batgirl was thrown forward, hitting the track forcefully, managing to grab onto the rail preventing her from falling the twenty feet to the ground.

"Area you okay?" Cyborg asked. Batgirl gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"I'm fine," she replied, pulling herself back up onto the tracks.

"Whazgoingon?" Beastboy slurred, jerking himself awake. Batgirl quickly undid the restraints on the rest of the Titans.

"Ow my neck," Raven said, holding it in her hand.

"Sorry, that might be a bit of whiplash," Batgirl said, starting off down the track to the station. Cyborg, Beastboy and Raven followed quickly. As soon as they ran out of the station, Starfire flew past them.

"Star, what's…" Cyborg didn't get to finish his question as Overload raced towards them. Cyborg raised his sonic cannon, Beastboy turned himself into a t-rex, Raven raised her hands, and Batgirl pulled out her batarangs. Overload blasted at them, Cyborg raised his arms, absorbing the electricity but being thrown backwards into the rollercoaster's entrance. Beastboy swooped away as a bird, Raven melted into the ground, and Batgirl rolled out of the way.

"Look out!" Robin shouted, throwing some disks at Overload. Overload turned towards Robin, and let loose a barrage of electrical shocks. Robin dodged, landing next to Batgirl. Starfire let loose her starbolts at him, while Raven threw a food cart. Overload glared at the Titans, blasting at them. Raven surrounded them both with a shield of her dark energy. Robin pulled out a rubber ball, looking at Batgirl.

"Got it," she said, running a few yards away, pulling out some explosives. "HEY UGLY!" She chucked the explosives. Overload turned, but then changed his mind and turned back to Robin as he ran in to plant the rubber restraints. Overload wacked him, causing him to jerk with electricity and smash into the ground.

"ROBIN!" Starfire exclaimed, starting over. All the Titans changed their positions so they were defensively around Robin. Batgirl frowned, looking around. She knew they were trying to ensure Robin's safety, but all they were really doing right now was putting them all more at risk. _What could you do to get rid of electricity? Ground it!_ She grabbed a batarang and a long piece of copper wire from her belt. She tied one end to the batarang, and the other end to a pipe running along the building. Quickly she threw the batarang into Overload. He fizzed and shrunk, finally turning back into just a little chip. Batgirl sighed, running over to Robin.

"Is he okay?" she asked. Starfire was leaning over him, shaking him slightly.

"Robin, please wake up," she requested. Batgirl hurried forward, shoving Starfire aside.

"Don't shake someone who's injured, they might have a back or head injury," she instructed, checking Robin's breathing and his pulse. Clearly Starfire had no experience with proper medical response. "He's got a pulse, and I don't see any serious injuries." She leant back, inhaling deeply. "He'll be fine." She could feel the adrenalin start to leave her body. Suddenly, she became aware of a pain in her chest. Spots flooded her vision, then everything went black as she felt herself start to fall.


	6. Injured Reserve

Batgirl slowly opened her eyes. Immediately her field of vision was clouded by a half metal face.

"Are you alright?" Cyborg demanded. Batgirl blinked, and Cyborg's face vanished from her vision, replaced by a Raven, her face expressionless.

"You passed out," she stated. Batgirl nodded.

"Yeah, I think I…" she clutched her side as sharp pain shot through it.

"You bruised your ribs badly," Raven said. "I wouldn't recommend moving."

"Thanks," she muttered, closing her eyes again. The door slid open with a swish and Cyborg's heavy footsteps left the room, followed nearly silently by Raven. Soft chuckling came from across the room.

"So you just passed out?" Robin teased.

"Shut it Grayson," Batgirl retorted, opening her eyes and turning her head to glare at him. "I stopped a rollercoaster, what's your excuse?" Robin smirked at her, accepting the challenge.

"I prevented Overload from roasting you," he replied.

"But I took him down after you got yourself blasted," she said with finality.

"Oh, stop bragging Babs," Robin grumbled, turning his head back away. Batgirl smirked, closing her eyes again and reveling in her victory.

~0~

Red lights flashed, as the loud alarm noise went off. Robin's eyes snapped open and he sat up. He saw spots immediately. Someone grabbed his arm, forcing him back down onto the bed. He seized their hand, squeezing it firmly, trying to dissipate the pain coursing through his body. Slowly the pain faded. He opened his eyes, immediately locking his gaze with Batgirl's.

"Dick, it's okay," she assured him, one hand pressed comfortingly into his shoulder. "You just sat up too fast."

"What's going on?" he muttered.

"I don't know," she replied, glancing quickly over her shoulder at the door.

"We've got to do something," he said, starting to sit up again. Batgirl's hand pressed more firmly on his shoulder, holding him down.

"Oh no you don't, passing out won't help anyone," she snarled. He frowned up at her, his expression immediately softening at her pained expression. He raised his eyebrow, and she forced a quick smile. The door swished open behind them. Batgirl whirled around as the Titans charged in.

"Are you guys okay?" Cyborg asked. Robin immediately became aware that he was still clutching Batgirl's hand. He quickly released it.

"What's going on?" Batgirl demanded, ignoring the three shocked expressions.

"Some trouble downtown," Raven said. "Will you two be okay here?" Batgirl nodded.

"As long as Robin remembers not to sit up," she said, sending him a pointed glance. Raven turned, walking out of the room, followed by Beastboy. Starfire continued to stare for a second, then followed them.

"Remember that you should be resting to," Cyborg said. Batgirl smiled at him as he left the room.

"Babs, he's right, you should rest," Robin pointed out. She rolled her eyes at him, walking over to the other bed and repositioning her pillows so she was propped up into a sitting position. Robin shot her a glare.

"What?" she said. "I still have to keep an eye on you."

"I can handle myself," Robin snapped, tensing slightly.

"But you're not very good with the concept of 'rest,'" she replied. He smiled reluctantly.

"I guess you've got a point there." He turned his head back to the ceiling, staring at the fluorescent lights. Batgirl sighed, settling back into her pillows. Robin closed his eyes, simply listening to the sounds of their breathing, letting silence wrap around them.

~0~

The Titans rushed into the room only to be met with silence. Both Batgirl and Robin had their eyes closed. The Titans turned, starting to leave before they woke them.

"What's up?" Batgirl asked. Cyborg raised his finger to his lips, nodding his head in Robin's direction.

"I'm not asleep Cy," Robin said, raising up his upper body slightly and leaning back on his elbows. "What happened?"

"Some dude tried to rob a jewelry store," Cyborg explained.

"Surrendered as soon as he saw us coming," Beastboy declared. "It was hilarious!" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound like the Brotherhood of Evil was behind it," he observed.

"Robin, not everything is going to evolve the Brotherhood," Cyborg snapped, rolling his eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" Starfire asked. Robin smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied. "This rest thing does wonders!" Cyborg and Beastboy laughed, Starfire smiled, and Raven raised an eyebrow. Batgirl chucked slightly, but stopped abruptly, clutching her side.

"We thought you'd be walking around the tower when we got back," Cyborg said.

"Batgirl didn't give me a lot of choice," he explained. She smirked.

"Someone has to make you take care of yourself," she replied. Starfire scowled.

"I need to go feed Silky," she declared, marching out of the room.

"Is it just me or does she not like me?" asked Batgirl.

"No, she doesn't like you," Raven said. "I'm going to meditate." Raven turned and followed Starfire.

"Don't worry, that doesn't mean Raven doesn't like you too, she's just like that," Cyborg assured Batgirl.

"Right, I got that," Batgirl replied.

"Who wants tofu?" Beastboy suggested.

"Beastboy, no one wants tofu," Cyborg replied.

"How do you know?" Beastboy demanded.

"Because no one likes tofu," Cyborg countered.

"Says you!"

"It's not just me!" Robin and Batgirl exchanged a frustrated look.

"What about waffles?" Batgirl suggested. Beastboy and Cyborg looked at each other, mouths morphing into matching grins.

"PIZZA!" they exclaimed, both rushing from the room.

"What was that?" Batgirl asked, looking over at Robin.

"I honestly have no explanation for anything those two ever do," he replied.

"Always good when you have no idea what your teams doing," she said sarcastically.

"Are you implying that Bruce always knew what we were going to do?"

"Dick, it's _Bruce_," she said.

"Good point."


	7. New Allies

Batgirl stormed into the common room. A week had passed since the pier incident, and both she and Robin were back to full strength. _Good thing too._

"Ba…" Robin started to ask, but she walked right past him and immediately brought up a screen on the computer. There was a large article telling of Wildebeast and Hotspot going missing. "What happened?" Batgirl turned, her eyes glaring furiously.

"They've had this information for a week," she said. "Batman sent it to me just now." The Titans gaped open mouthed. Cyborg recovered first.

"THEY DIDN'T FEEL LIKE TELLING US TITANS ARE GOING MISSING?" he yelled.

"They didn't know, did they?" Robin asked darkly. "They're just determined to keep us out of the loop because they think we're just kids."

"They didn't know they were missing?" Cyborg asked, his rage momentarily replaced with confusion. "I mean, the article says it pretty clearly, and I thought they were pretty smart."

"Batman is," Batgirl and Robin chorused, turning to look at each other. Robin raised one eyebrow ever so slightly.

"He kept us in the loop," Batgirl said firmly. Robin scowled, reluctantly nodding.

"We need to check on all the remaining Titans and bring them back to the tower," he said. "Safety in numbers."

"What if they go after Jump City while we're away?" Beastboy asked, still staring worriedly at the screen.

"The Titans East?" Cyborg suggested.

~0~

Bumblebee, Speedy, Aqualad, and the twins arrived at Titan Tower. The main Titans stood in front of the tower, already ready for travel.

"Hey guys," Bumblebee greeted them, shaking hands with Robin before giving Cyborg a hug. The rest of the Titans took this as a sign and all began mingling with each other. Speedy walked up and shook hands with Robin.

"Good to see you," Speedy said. Robin nodded, giving him the smallest smile. Speedy glanced over Robin's shoulder to see a dark figure leaning on her motorcycle, surveying the proceedings. He glanced at Robin. "New member?" Robin shook his head.

"Justice League babysitter," Robin replied, trying to keep up his carful facade. Speedy grinned and started over.

"Hey Batgirl," he said. "So you're babysitting Robin now?" She laughed.

"If that's what he said," she replied, smirking back at Robin, who wanted nothing better than to fade into the ground.

"As always, I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," Speedy said. Robin felt something clench in his gut. _I'm not jelous, am I? _Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"When do we ever meet under good circumstances?" Speedy grinned.

"I could think of a way to change that," he replied, wagging his eyebrows at her ever so slightly. Robin's mouth fell wide open. Batgirl shot Speedy a look.

"I bet you could," she replied. "Good thing I can think faster than you." Robin grinned. _Yeah Babs!_

"That a challenge?" Speedy asked, keeping his previous tone.

"I'd call it a warning," Batgirl corrected him. Robin smirked at Speedy. Batgirl turned to him, and he quickly recomposed his face. "Don't we need to go somewhere?" Robin nodded quickly, turning to the rest of his team.

"Time to get going," he declared.

~0~

"We're on our way to the last known location of Wildebeast," Robin informed the rest of the Titans through his headset.

"Where is that?" Cyborg asked.

"It's…"

"Hey Boy Wonder, shouldn't we be checking on the rest of the Titans?" Batgirl asked. Robin scowled.

"What was that Robin?" Starfire asked. They hadn't had time to patch her into the T-ship's communicator, so she was communicating purely with Robin, and they were just hopping everyone could hear what she was saying.

"Nothing," he said.

"You did not…" growled Batgirl.

"Anyway, we're heading to…" BEEP. BEEP. _Alright universe, I give up!_ He quickly snatched his communicator, but the beeping had already stopped.

"What's with the beeping?" Beastboy asked.

"I don't know," Robin admitted, checking his communicator over a second time just to be sure.

"We've got a problem," Batgirl threw in.

"What?" Robin asked.

"What?" Cyborg demanded.

"What?" Beastboy asked.

"We've got a problem!" Batgirl repeated.

"Bees sought a moblem?" Starfire repeated.

"WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!" Batgirl yelled. Robin winced, immediately covering his ears with his hands. The ship pitched forward.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Cyborg yelled. Robin grabbed the controls again, pulling the ship out of a dive.

"I'm taking a detour," Batgirl said.

"What?" Robin asked.

"I just got a distress signal from Superboy," Batgirl replied.

"I'm right behind you," Robin assured her.

"What's going on?" Cyborg demanded.

"Batgirl and I are going to go help Superboy," Robin replied, setting the t-ship down for a landing.

"Why?" Starfire demanded, already in his face as he got out of the ship.

"Because wither or not he's being a jerk to us, we still need to help him," Robin replied, shoving his way past her and retrieving his motorcycle from the t-ship's storage compartment.

"Robin, why don't I go with Batgirl and…" Cyborg started. Robin cut him off as he rammed his helmate on his head.

"Cy, I've got a motorcycle, it's much easier if I go and you stay in the t-ship and go and find the rest of the honorary Titans," Robin insisted.

"So you and Batgirl can take this person?" Cyborg asked, planting himself firmly in front of the motorcycle, preventing Robin from leaving. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah Cy, I'm sure," Robin rolled his eyes slightly. "If Superboy's in trouble, having powers isn't going to help." He reversed and zoomed away.

"Be careful!" Starfire yelled after him.

~0~

Robin pulled up outside a wearhouse, quickly dismounting and leaving his motorcycle next to Batgirl's. Silently, he crept into the building. He faded into the shadows, edging around the side of the wall. Inside the room was Superboy, lying in a heap at the feet of… Mad Mob? Across the room stood Batgirl, who Mad Mob was lecturing about proper behavior.

"Listen," she cut him off. "We both know that I'm not going to suddenly change my outlook on life because you lecture me like a badly behaved kid. So just shut up." Robin rolled his eyes. _Come on Babs, don't bait him if you don't know who he is and you don't have back up!_

"I'm going to have to teach you some manners, love," Mob grinned, summoning forth several of his killer statues. Batgirl flipped out of the way of the lazar blasts, landing gracefully as her two Baterangs flew back into her hands and the two statues fell to pieces. She turned her attention to one of the saw wielding statues, and Mob lowered his cane towards her. Robin leapt from his hiding place, knocking the cane from his hands and sending him sprawling onto the floor.

"Don't touch her," he growled, slightly more aggressively than he meant to. But Mob shriveled away, so he figured that it was effective.

"Where are the manners?" he grumbled. "No respect for their elders, none at all." Batgirl walked over, snatching a green ring off the ground next to Superboy and stowing it in her belt. Immediately he seemed to recover, and she helped him to his feet.

"Who is that quack?" he asked, rubbing his head.

"Mad Mob," Robin explained, grabbing Mob by the collar.

"Who sent you after Superboy?" he demanded. Mob scowled.

"They said it would be easy, just toss the rock at him and wait till they got here," he grumbled. "Lying sods. I'll bet they knew this'd happen. They ought to learn some manners too, civilazations going downhill, ever since that bloody revolution…" Robin rolled his eyes, dropping him back onto the ground.

"If they're coming, we'd better get out of here," Batgirl said. Robin nodded, looking at Superboy.

"Can you fly yet?" he asked. He shook his head.

"He can ride with you," Batgirl said, leading them back to the bikes. She threw on her helmate, straddling her bike. Robin followed suit, letting Superboy climb on behind him. Batgirl glanced at him for a second before pulling out and speeding off. Robin waited a second before driving in the opposite direction.


	8. Hiding

**A/N: So I'm using some secret identities in this chapter which aren't confirmed for sure in the animated series, but I remember them from the comics, so for your reference: Speedy= Roy, Superboy= Connor, Kid Flash= Wally and Wondergirl= Donna.**

Chapter 8

Robin tapped his headset, instantly activating his communicator and calling the Titans.

"What's up Robin?" Cyborg greeted him.

"They've found a way to track us, watch your backs. Find the other Titans, regroup at the Tower," Robin said. "I'll be back in contact soon, but I might be off the grid for just a little while, they might be following me." He cut the communication and stopped his motorcycle, tossing his communicator as far as he could into the field. Superboy took his lead and tossed his too, much further than Robin's. He also pulled an earpiece from his ear and threw it. Robin pulled his headset from his helmet and disposed of that as well, along with his backup communicator and his bikes tracking device. Once they'd finished, Robin sped away as quickly as possible. After a few more minutes of silence, Superboy spoke.

"Thanks for saving me," he said.

"Don't mention it," Robin replied.

"And I'm sorry I was being a jerk," Superboy continued. "I guess I was just fed up."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Robin.

"Well, you know, the Justice League was always a big team, and I was just the little sidekick, but then there was you and Batgirl too, but you two were always a team by yourselves, so I was sort of a perpetual third wheel," he explained. "But then you left, and we sort of formed our own team, me and Donna, Wally, Barb and Roy. But then Roy left to join the Titans East, and sure enough Barb chose you over our team, and …"

"I'm sorry," Robin replied. "Why didn't you tell us you felt left out?"

"I don't know," Superboy replied. "Sorry Dick."

"Don't worry about it," Robin replied. They lapsed back into silence as Robin carefully zigzagged them around; making sure no one followed them.

"So," Superboy spoke again, a mischievous hint in his voice. "You and Barbra?"

"Connor," Robin growled.

"Come on, you're really trying to say there's nothing going on between you two?" Superboy scoffed. "You scared that British idiot senseless!" Robin rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were unconscious," he groaned.

"Paralyzed," Superboy corrected him. "And you can't be that overprotective of someone unless you feel something for them."

"Babs is one of my best friends, and I'd never let anything happen to her," Robin growled. "That does not mean that there is anything romantic between the two of us."

"Sure it doesn't," Superboy replied, rolling his eyes. "So you've moved on finally?"

"Yes."

"So who's the new girl?" Robin groaned.

"Can't I just move on without moving onto someone else?"

"No," Superboy replied. "Come on, tell me and I won't tell Wally about how protective of Barbra you still are." Robin scowled. Connor could be annoying, but Wally could be worse than Beasboy.

"Fine," he snarled. "There's this Tameranian on the Titans, Starfire."

"I'll bet she's pretty," Superboy remarked.

"Yeah… I guess so…"

"So why do you like her?"

"Well, she's nice and … She's sort of funny sometimes…and she's always trying to get me to do stuff with her," Robin listed absentmindedly.

"So she's into you?"

"Well, I guess…"

"Have you kissed her?" Robin felt himself pale slightly.

"I don't see…"

"Come on, spill!"

"Well, she kissed me when we first met, but I think it was just some weird alien thing," Robin explained.

"So she's into you, she's kissed you before, and you haven't asked her out yet?" Superboy scoffed.

"You know what, leave my love life alone," Robin snapped. "You haven't managed to ask out Donna yet, have you?" Superboy stopped talking and Robin smirked victoriously.

~0~

Batgirl stared at the alley from her perch on the edge of the roof. A few seconds later, she jumped down into the shadows.

"What took you so long?" she asked. Across the alley, the shadows suddenly jumped.

"We've been here for almost ten minutes," Robin whispered in her ear, his breath warming the side of her face. She turned to face him, their faces inches apart.

"Yeah right Boy Wonder," she teased. Robin grinned at her.

"I'm just one step ahead of you," he retorted. Batgirl smirked back, opening her mouth to reply, but there was a crash from the other side of the alley. Robin turned away. Batgirl exhaled. _What was that? _

"Connor, we're trying to be quiet," he hissed, glaring at Superboy's outline.

"I can't see," Superboy retorted.

"You have x-ray vision," Batgirl grumbled.

"I know that," he insisted. Batgirl and Robin exchanged a look. "Oh, don't start ganging up on me." Superboy walked across the alley, appearing momentarily in the light before disappearing back into the shadows. Batgirl and Robin moved apart to make room for him.

"Communicators?" Batgirl asked.

"In a field," Robin replied. She nodded. Superboy looked between the two of them.

"So now what do we do now?" he asked finally. Robin and Batgirl looked at each other again around Superboy, then both sat down against the wall.

"We wait," they chorused.

~0~

"What's the point of sitting here?" Superboy moaned again.

"Will you shut up?" Robin growled.

"Either you two shut up now, or I'll freeze you both solid," Batgirl growled.

"It's cold and we've been sitting here for hours," Superboy complained again.

"Aren't you supposed to be the tough guy?" Robin snapped.

"I've got an idea, why don't you two go to sleep, and I'll wake you if something happens," Batgirl declared.

"Babs, you don't have…"

"Oh, I insist," she snapped. "Anything's better than sitting here while you two bicker."

"Why are we still here anyway?" Superboy whined.

"We're ensuring we've dropped off the grid," Robin explained. "If they don't manage to find us after another couple hours, then we've lost them and don't need to worry about them tracking us anymore."

"After five hours we still can't be sure if we've lost them?" Superboy groaned.

"Yes." Superboy rolled his eyes at both of them.

"You two are paranoid."

"If you want to reacquaint yourself with some kryptonite, we can help you do that without compromising all of us," Robin growled.

"Are you threatening me?" Superboy snapped.

"Maybe I…"

"You two had better shut up before I make you," Batgirl snarled, glaring fiercely at both of them. The two boys exchanged a quick glance. They both yawned widely.

"So you'll wake us up?" Robin asked, leaning his head back into the wall. Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"Good move, Grayson," she replied, smiling slightly.


	9. Return

"Wake up," Batgirl demanded. Robin jumped slightly, standing quickly.

"What is it?" he asked, surveying the alley for intruders. Batgirl rolled her eyes, shaking Superboy.

"We're clear," she replied. "They didn't track us. It's the communicators." Robin smiled.

"Then we'd better get going," he replied.

"Huh?" Superboy groaned groggily.

"We're getting a move on," Batgirl announced. "So you might want to wake up before we leave you in an alley."

"Thanks so much," he grumbled, getting to his feet. "I can just fly this time, we're heading to that giant t-thing you've got, right?"

"Titan Tower," Robin corrected. "And we're staying together, just in case."

"Did I mention you two are…"

"Call us paranoid again and we'll let you fly there by yourself without a communicator," Robin snapped. Batgirl rolled her eyes, climbing onto her motorcycle once more. Superboy and Robin exchanged a look.

"Aren't you two coming?"

~0~

"ROBIN!" Starfire exclaimed, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug, yanking him off his motorcycle and knocking Superboy to the ground.

"WHERE WERE YOU TWO?" Cyborg demanded, rushing up after her.

"We were just making sure we weren't followed," Batgirl replied calmly, removing her helmet and dismounting.

"Oh, I'm fine, don't bother with me," Superboy grumbled as he picked himself back up. Cyborg and Beastboy turned towards him.

"What's he doing here?" Beastboy snapped. Cyborg just glared.

"Apparently he's a member of your little group," Batgirl remarked. Cyborg and Beastboy exchanged a skeptical glance.

"Since when?" they demanded. "Robin…" The trailed off, turning to their blue team leader.

"Starfire!" Beastboy yelled as they leapt forward to prevent Robin from choking. Starfire looked up then hastily released him. He gasped, falling onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" Cyborg asked, helping him up. Robin nodded, still doing his best to catch his breath.

"Fine," he choked out. Starfire frowned.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Robin nodded and smiled hesitantly. Starfire was immediately back to her bubbly self. Several more people streamed out of Titan Tower.

"What's going on?" Speedy demanded. As soon as he saw Robin, he broke into a grin.

"About time you showed up," he remarked. A girl in a red jumpsuit brushed by him, her black hair flowing behind her and walked over to Superboy.

"You get lost on your way here or something?" she asked him. "And lose your communicator too?"

"The communicator thing was not my fault," he retorted. She grinned.

"Of course not," she replied. "So what's with the communicators Batgirl?"

"They found some way to track the communicators," Batgirl replied. The girl nodded, turning back to Superboy.

"So what happened?" she asked.

"Some nut job attacked me," he replied.

"Always good Batgirl is willing to save your butt," she replied. Superboy raised an eyebrow. She smiled at him. "And I'm glad you're okay, muscle-head."

"Would you two just kiss already and get it over with?" quipped Kid Flash. They both blushed momentarily.

"You did not just say that," she growled. Kid Flash paled.

"Nope, no I didn't…I'll just be going now," he declared, turning and whizzing back into the tower.

"I'll hold him while you punch?" Superboy suggested. The red jump-suited girl returned his grin and they raced off after him.

"Okay, so what's up with those three?" Beastboy asked. "And how the heck did they wind up on our team?" The eyes of the Titans East and West turned to Robin.

"Well…it seemed like a good idea at the time," he replied. Suddenly a small purple and pink figure walked up towards the group. The Titans turned, staring at her in surprise.

"Um…hi," Jinx said, waving slightly at them. The Titans continued to stare.

"What are you doing here," Raven finally asked. Jinx looked around the group again, then stared down at her feet.

"Well, I…uh… I want to help," she finished lamely.

"You what?" Beastboy asked.

"I want to help," Jinx repeated. The Titans looked at each other again. Batgirl started forward.

"Babs," Robin reached out to stop her, but she sidestepped him, walking forward until she was just a few feet from Jinx.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because…well, I realized I might have…uh I mean… well, the Brotherhood are real jerks, and I thought I could help you to get rid of them maybe," Jinx spluttered, still refusing to look up at any of them.

"What makes you think we want your help?" Cyborg demanded. "After all those times you attacked us and fought us, why would we trust you?"

"Because…" Jinx caught herself. "I really couldn't expect you to, but I still want to help."

"What brought this on?" Batgirl asked.

"Well…" Kid Flash reappeared in his usual blur of red. Immediately he smiled.

"So I was right, wasn't I?" he asked. Jinx finally looked up, smiling at him.

"Maybe just a little," she replied.

"Awww, just a little?"

"What the heck is going on here?" Robin asked, finally recovering. Kid Flash turned back around.

"Well, when Madam Rouge came after me, the HIVE Five were trying to help. But Jinx switched sides and helped me," he explained sheepishly.

"That does **not** mean we're trusting her," Beastboy demanded. Cyborg nodded. Raven just smiled grimly. Speedy, Bumblebee, Aqualad and Mas y Menos all looked at each other carefully.

"But…" Jinx started, but stopped instead, staring at her feet. "Never mind."

"Hang on," Kid Flash said, grabbing her arm. "Why not?"

"Well…" started Cyborg. "I don't think we really need any more help." Batgirl frowned. Immediately Robin raised an eyebrow at her. She walked back over to him.

"Well, we could use her knowledge of the other side," Batgirl remarked in a low voice. Robin glared.

"No," he snapped.

"Why not?"

"Because she's attacked us too many times," Robin retorted. "We can't trust her."

"We don't have to trust her, we need her help."

"Why?"

"You're really asking that?" Robin frowned. Just then, Superboy came flying back out of the tower, followed closely by the red jump-suited girl.

"Will you two just hang on for thirty seconds?" Kid Flash exclaimed. They stopped, exchanging a quick glance. Both of their glances settled on Jinx.

"Who are you?" asked the girl.

"Wondergirl, Superboy, this is Jinx," Kid Flash introduced them. Wondergirl and Superboy looked around at the assembled heroes.

"What's up?"

"We've been explaning that we don't need Jinx's help," Cyborg snapped.

"Except that we do," Batgirl retorted. Cyborg rounded on her.

"What?"

"She knows more details than we do, we could use her insight," Batgirl explained. Beastboy rolled his eyes.

"You're not going along with this, are you Robin?" Robin frowned. "You are?"

"She does have a point, we really don't know enough to stand a chance as is," Robin reasoned. Starfire glared at Batgirl.

"I think this is a bad idea," she snapped. Cyborg and Beastboy both glanced back at Jinx.

"Well, I guess we could keep a closer eye on her if she stays here," Cyborg conceded. Beastboy nodded.

"But we cannot trust her!" Starfire exclaimed. "Friend Raven, do you not agree?"

"They're right, like it or not, Jinx has useful information," Raven repeated in her monotone. "If she gets out of line, we can deal with her." Robin nodded and turned to face Jinx once more.

"We've decided that maybe we could use your help," he anounced. "But you'd better not be trying to trick us." Jinx grinned.

"I'm not, I just want to help," she assured them. Superboy looked around.

"So are we done here?" he asked. Kid Flash immediately ran back into the tower, followed by Superboy and Wondergirl.

"Get back here!" Superboy exclaimed. Jinx looked after them skeptically.

"Will he be alright?"

"Oh, they wouldn't actually hurt him," Robin brushed it aside.

"Plus they can't catch him," Speedy reminded them.


	10. Tensions Rise

"You seen Robin?" Cyborg asked, snatching a bag of chips out of the cabinet and walking into the common room.

"Nope," Speedy replied, idly flipping the channels on the TV.

"What about Beastboy?"

"With Mas y Menos," Superboy replied, plopping himself down on the other side of Cyborg.

"Starfire?" Speedy opened his mouth, but Cyborg cut him off. "With Bee and Donna, right?" Superboy smiled. Speedy laughed.

"We haven't gotten into a rut at all, have we?" he quipped sarcastically.

"Why aren't you with Robin then?" Cyborg demanded.

"Even I get sick of hanging with those two sometimes," Speedy retorted. "They're always finishing each other's thoughts, or suddenly looking up at each other and racing towards the computer and chattering excitedly." Cyborg smiled.

"I get that," Cyborg replied. Superboy laughed.

"You two have no idea," he replied. "I've dealt with both of them for longer."

"So when was the last time you saw Kid Flash?" Speedy asked.

"A while ago," Superboy asked. "Something's up between him and Jinx, you think?"

"No, really?" retorted Cyborg.

"So where is Robin?" Superboy asked.

"Locked in his room," Cyborg and Speedy chorused.

"Honestly, where else would he be?" retorted Speedy. Superboy smirked.

"If it was anyone but him, I think we'd all be thinking something else about him and Batgirl spending all their time shut up in his room," he replied. All three boys looked at each other, then burst out laughing. Cyborg grabbed a handful of chips.

"Better not let them here you say that," Speedy replied.

"They **have** been shut up in there for about a week," replied Superboy. All three laughed again.

"Chip?" Cyborg asked, offering the bag out to the other two.

~0~

Cyborg yawned, walking to the door of Robin's room.

"It's two in the morning, shut off your stupid noise," he snarled. "You hear me you spiky haired idiot." The door still didn't open, so Cyborg quickly overloaded the electronic lock. Immediately, the noise of explosions flooded out of the room, accompanied by the blinding lights. When Cyborg overcame the initial shock, he immediately pulled out the cord to the speakers. Robin was sitting slumped at his desk, while Batgirl was leaning against the bed, a laptop on her lap and papers strewn everywhere. Immediately, both started, jumping to their feet.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"What time is it?" Robin mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Batgirl put her computer down on the bed, stretching.

"It's two AM," Cyborg groaned. "Will you keep it down?" Without waiting for a response, he stumbled back to his room. Robin and Batgirl looked at each other.

"We need coffee," then concurred.

~0~

Superboy walked through the hall, suddenly coming upon Starfire and Wondergirl. Starfire's eyes were blazing green, while Wondergirl was pulling her back from the door.

"Calm down!" Wondergirl demanded in a whisper. Superboy rushed forward to help. "Get Bee!" He nodded, more than confident Wondergirl could handle the angry Tameranian. He barely rounded the corner when he ran into Bumblebee.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Starfire's pissed," he replied, starting back around the corner. Bumblebee rushed by him, helping Wondergirl pull Starfire away from the door.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee demanded. Starfire glared at the door, suddenly burst into tears and stormed down the corridor. "I got this." Bumblebee ran after her.

"What was that?" Superboy asked, staring down the hall after them. Wondergirl smiled.

"Teenage drama," she replied. "You'd really think we'd have more important things to worry about, wouldn't you?" He smiled appreciatively, turning back to face her.

"So what set that off?" Wondergirl held her hand to her lips, and they walked through the doors. You could see the tops of two heads over the back of the couch, leaning against each other. Superboy smirked.

"Classic Dick and Barb," he whispered. Wondergirl nodded.

"Except they're more obsessive than usual, normally they'd be awake enough that we'd be sitting on the ground at this point," she replied, leading him back out into the hallway.

"Those two need an intervention."

"Something along the lines of 'sleep is a necessary bodily function, you should try it?'" Wondergirl asked. Superboy laughed.

"Or we wait till they're tired enough to draw on their faces," he replied. "That would get the point across."

"You two seen Bee?" Cyborg asked, walking into the hallway.

"Comforting Starfire," Wondergirl replied. Cyborg blinked.

"What?"

"Batgirl and Robin passed out on the couch last night," Superboy explained. "Starfire seems a bit upset by it." Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I guess that's what they did after I threw them out of Robin's room last night," he remarked.

"You what?"

"They were playing some loud footage of an explosion or something in the middle of the night, so I went in, woke them up and shut it off. I guess they came out here for some reason." Wondergirl shrugged.

"I bet they were after coffee," Superboy said. Wondergirl nodded.

"Is it normal for them to be this obsessive?" Cyborg asked.

"I think they get it from Batman," Superboy replied.

"Usually they manage to get enough sleep to remain coherent though," Wondergirl continued. "Which is about five hours mind you."

"I think they're trying to prove something," Superboy reasoned. Wondergirl nodded. Cyborg stared at the two of them.

"Now you're starting to remind me of them."

"HEY!" The doors slid open behind the three of them.

"Why are you guys standing out here?" Robin enquired.

"No reason," the three chorused. Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"Anything new?" Cyborg asked quickly, attempting to change the subject.

"Nothing concrete," Robin replied. Batgirl nodded. "You guys going to come have breakfast?" With that, Robin and Batgirl disappeared back into the common room, leaving Superboy, Wondergirl and Cyborg staring after them.

~0~

Batgirl filled two more mugs of coffee, starting back towards Robin's room. Halfway down the hall, she sighed, turning around.

"I know you're back there," she called. Immediately Starfire emerged from the shadows. "Why were you following me?"

"I do not trust you," Starfire replied.

"And?" Starfire faltered, surprised by her reaction. "Look, I've had people not trust me before. Unless you're here to tell me why, I've got something I'm supposed to be doing." Starfire hesitated, and Batgirl turned to leave.

"You are not a part of this team," Starfire started again.

"I'm aware." Batgirl continued to walk away.

"You may not hurt my friends." Batgirl stopped, turning to look back at her.

"Noted." The two glared at each other. "Anything else?"

"Just remember that," Starfire snarled before she walked back down the hallway. Batgirl stared after her until Starfire's hair disappeared around the corner. She took a deep breath. _It's her problem, not yours. Get your head back. What'd Bruce say right now?_ She shook her head quickly. _That's right. We've got a job to do._ She walked back to Robin's room.

"I've got coffee," she announced, handing him one of the mugs.

~0~

Robin and Batgirl sat atop Titan Tower, staring down at the ocean. For the first time in a week, they were without Batgirl's laptop or mounds of paper evidence.

"So what now?" Robin asked still staring out at the sea.

"You tell me," Batgirl replied. They fell back into silence, watching the sun play off the waves as it sank towards the horizon. "They'll do something soon." Robin nodded, setting his jaw.

"We can make it on our terms," he replied. Batgirl smiled ever so slightly for just a second.

"This confrontation's coming," she stated. "Wither we like it or not."

"I know," Robin admitted, bringing one knee up to his head and resting his chin on it. "I don't have to like it."

"They'll just keep coming back," Batgirl added, lying down backwards to stare at the sky. Robin sighed, nodded and lay down next to her, resting both hands on his chest. Batgirl glanced over at him. "We're going to be alright Dick."

"How do you know?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. "What if someone gets hurt?"

"We keep fighting," she replied. "We always do." Robin smiled slightly.

"What if it's not enough this time?"

"Well, there's always Bruce," she replied. Robin chuckled.

"True." Robin looked back up at the sky as they settled back into silence.

"Hey," she said, causing him to look back at her. She set her hand on . "We're in this together Boy Wonder, always are."

The two tensed and jumped to their feet to meet the red figure of Madam Rouge.

"You two make an adorable couple," she drawled. Robin drew his staff and Batgirl took an attack stance. "Are you really going to fight me?"

"What're you doing here?" Robin demanded.

"Well, you are hardly hiding," Rouge retorted. She lunged at them, both diving out of the way, fighting back, but Rouge just bent out of the way. Rouge grabbed Robin's staff, twisting it out of his grasp. Suddenly Batgirl was at his back.

"We aren't winning this," he whispered. She nodded, deflecting another blow.

"We just got to hold out." It was Robin's turn to nod as he managed to grab Rouge's wrist, but she responded by looping it around him. She lifted him, starting to cut off his air supply. Batgirl disengaged with Rouge just long enough to throw six batarangs at Rouge, forcing her to release Robin as she dodged out of the way. Robin fell to the ground, gasping, as Rouge attacked Batgirl with full force. Robin got to his feet just in time to see Rouge manage to knock Batgirl's feet out from under her from behind.

"Over here!" he yelled, grabbing one of his exploding disks and throwing it. Rouge bounced it back at him, and he just had time to dive out of the way before it exploded.

"Robin!" Batgirl yelled as the force of the explosion carried him across the roof. Rouge turned back to Batgirl, who had leapt to her feet. Batgirl fended off the initial attacks, frowning. She'd lost her element of surprise, since Rouge knew she couldn't leave the roof top anymore, or try to distract Rouge, because she wouldn't leave Robin. Rouge tried to knock her feet out from under her again, but she did a hand spring out of the way, only to be knocked over backwards halfway through. She hit the ground hard, gritting her teeth. _Those Titans had better come up here soon._

She managed to get back to her feet, but Rouge was on her again. It was all she could do to stay standing. Finally, Rouge managed to out maneuver her, grabbing her legs. Next thing she knew, she was falling through the air. She grabbed her grappling hook from her belt and firing it desperately in the direction she wasn't falling, hoping it was up. She managed to gather her bearings enough to see the ground whizzing up at her. The comforting jerk of the line catching was slightly more painful than usual; however, she sighed in relief as her fall slowed. Unfortunately, Rouge cut her line and she immediately found herself plummeting once more. Fortunately, her line had at least managed to turn her right side up, so she landed on her feet, bending her knees and rolling in an attempt to absorb the blow. All she really succeeded in doing was raising a larger cloud of dust and sending herself rolling down the slope of the island for a few seconds. She groaned, opening her eyes and trying to stand. Immediately her vision clouded. She vaguely saw Madam Rouge's outline atop the tower. _Robin!_

"No…" she groaned, but Rouge disappeared.

"Batgirl!" she heard someone yell. Immediately Wondergirl's face flashed into her vision.

"Oh Barb, what did you do?" she immediately breathed, looking her over. _Roof!_ she tried to yell, but it came out "r…"

"Don't talk, you just fell off a roof," Superboy demanded from somewhere outside her vision. Batgirl raised her fingers, causing her whole body to ache, and started tapping out in Morse code. Someone grabbed her hand.

"Don't move too much," Kid Flash demanded.

"R…Robin," she managed to choke out. She saw Wondergril's face falter for a second.

"Wally," Wondergirl said, and the pressure on her hand disappeared.

"What's going on?" Batgirl heard someone demand from far away. _Was that Speedy?_

"We need to get her inside." _Why did Donna sound so far away?_ Then the world faded away.


	11. Battle pt 1

Batgirl opened her eyes slowly, taking in her aching body. She was lying on the couch in the main room. Immediately she remembered what had happened. She sat up, wincing.

"I wouldn't do that," Wondergirl said immediately. Batgirl waved her off. "Seriously, you just fell off the roof, you should lie down."

"Robin?" Batgirl asked, looking around, already dreading the answer. Wondergirl glanced across the room for help. Finding no one, she sighed.

"We can't find him," she admitted. Batgirl nodded. _Calm down, you were expecting that._

"So do I have any broken bones?" Batgirl asked. Wondergirl looked surprised.

"I don't…" She was saved answering by the appearance of Raven through the door.

"I healed you, and you injuries weren't very severe," Raven declared. "You'll be fine." Batgirl nodded, getting to her feet, stopping for a second to hold onto her side. The rest of the Titans followed Raven into the room.

"What the hell happened?" Cyborg demanded, frowning at her. Starfire glared as though all suspicions had been confirmed.

"Madam Rouge," Batgirl responded simply, slowly testing her joints for sore spots.

"How'd she find us?" asked Beastboy. Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"You're house is a giant t in the middle of a bay," she retorted. "Gee, I don't know." The Titans looked at each other. Batgirl sighed. "Sorry." Beastboy's eyebrows both shot up.

"Um… don't worry about it," he said, putting his hand behind his head. "I'm used to being snapped at between Raven and Robin." His joke only caused Batgirl to scowl at him and leave the room. Wondergirl shot him a glare before following.

"Where're you going?" she asked. Batgirl didn't respond, she simply continued down the hallway. Wondergirl caught up, grabbing her by the arm and stopping her. "What are you doing?" Batgirl stopped, admitting that there was no way she was pulling out of Wondergirl's grip.

"It's time for plan B," she replied.

"Barb, you're not going back in there to brood right now," Wondergirl replied firmly.

"I'm not brooding," Batgirl replied.

"You are not…"

"Listen, we brought the confrontation to us, but that didn't work," Batgirl replied, turning around to face her. "Now we go to them." Wondergirl sighed, releasing her friend in defeat.

"Atleast have Roy help you."

"I don't need help finding them," Batgirl replied.

"Barb, you…"

"Donna, I know where they are." Batgirl waited for her words to sink in.

"You do?" Batgirl led the way into Robin's room, and turned on the light. On the wall was a giant map covered in red dots, and there were several piles of paper on the bed.

"They're in Parris," Batgirl explained, gesturing at the large red circle on the map. "This is everything we managed to gather about the leaders, and this is everyone who has in anyway work for the brotherhood."

"How long have you had all this information?"

"We've know where they were all week," Batgirl replied. "Today we finally admitted we couldn't find anymore information."

"You've known all week?" Batgirl grabbed the files, walking back down the hall. She walked into the common room, where the remaining Titans were having a loud "discussion" as to who was now incharge.

"HEY!" Everyone stopped to look at her. "Fighting isn't helping anyone." Starfire frowned.

"You may not tell us what to do," she snapped. "You are not…"

"I know," Batgirl snarled. "And I don't care. I'm not trying to take over or anything, but I'm going after the Brotherhood of Evil, and I'll welcome any help I get. If the Titans are too busy yelling at each other…"

"What've you got?" Superboy asked. Wondergirl put her hand on Batgirl's shoulder.

"Better you than him," Kid Flash anounced, pointing at Speedy.

"HEY!" Speedy protested, but he joined the group too.

"I'm in," Jinx announced. Cyborg and Bumblebee looked at each other.

"It's what we're all here for," Bumblebee announced.

"Booyah!" Cyborg agreed.

"Okay," Batgirl said. "So, here's what we know…"

~0~

Robin woke up suddenly, jerking his wrist against the restraits that held him to the chair. He tested the restraints again, only to discover that they didn't even allow him to bend his wrists. He glanced around the room. It was small, with one few inch heavily barred window, and a door.

_ They're good. I guess I'll just have to let this play out then._ He sat back in the chair. _How'd I get here? Think Grayson, think! _His eyes widened behind his mask. They were on the roof, there was an explosion…

_ What'd they do with Babs?_ His thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of an old man in a military outfit.

"I hear you fashion yourself as something of a leader," the man sneered.

"Who are you?" Robin asked. _Better not let them know what we know._

"That is not important," General Immortus replied, circling back behind Robin. "What we want to know is who you are."

"What do you care?"

"What makes you tick, what makes you fight…" the General continued, walking around to face Robin again, he continued, "who you love… your father perhaps?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Robin replied.

"So the Batman isn't your father?" the General replied. "But he's your mentor, no?" Robin failed to reply. "Why don't you tell us about him?" Robin adjusted his gaze away from the General to the wall. "What about your team? You don't want to see any more of them hurt, do you?" Robin held his gaze at the wall. _Anymore? Calm down Grayson, he's talking about Wildebeast and Hotspot._

"So that's what your worried about, isn't it?" He brought his hand down, colliding firmly with Robin's jaw. Robin gritted his teeth. "Reply."

"No." SMACK.

"Don't you care that your friends are hurt?" _I guess I'm going to have to make a concession._

"Yes." Gereral Immortus smiled.

"You and your little friend put up a little fight," he changed the subject. "Or was she your babysitter?" He turned to stare at Robin, waiting for him to react.

"What did you do with her?" Robin replied, carefully keeping his voice only mildly interested.

"You really don't need to worry about that. If I was you, I'd be asking, 'What can I do for you?'"

"May," Robin corrected. SMACK.


	12. Battle pt2

Robin was sitting in the little room, head slumped down. Judging by the lack of light coming through the tiny window, it was night. One little light-bulb cast a dim light around the room. General Immortus had finally admitted defeat and stormed from the room. As much as it hurt, he smiled slightly. _Stupid puns don't look so stupid now, eh Bruce?_ He tried lifting his arms again, only to be met with the resistance of the restraints again.

_Should have known it wasn't that easy. _He looked around again. _Nothing. Come on Grayson, you've got to get out of here somehow!_ He sighed. At least he had some time to reflect. He chuckled to himself half-heartedly. He'd managed to get a bit of information out of the General. Mainly, they wanted information on the Justice League they thought he could provide. All he'd really managed to ascertain was that they were about as worried about the Titans as they were a group of fluffy bunnies.

_He'll regret it. Especially if any of what he was hinting at was true..._ Robin shook his head. That line of thought wasn't getting him anywhere. Suddenly the light went out. He heard footsteps approaching, and the door opened. Private HIVE stormed into the room, quickly surveying the surroundings. He held a watch up to his mouth.

"Prisoner's secure," he announced, turning to smirk down at Robin. "Not so tough now, are…" He was cut off by a shadow knocking him over the head, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Babs?" Robin asked; staring perplexed at the red head as she undid the restraints.

"Who did you expect?" she retorted, finishing with the last restraint and standing up, pulling him to his feet as well. Robin staggered. Immediately Batgirl slung her arm around his waist, holding him up. "Are you alright?" Robin nodded.

"How'd you get here?"

"With the Titans," she replied simply. "Now let's get out of here." She poked her head back out the door, then beckoned for Robin to follow. They hurried across the corridor into a dark alcove. A figure appeared behind them, but fell quickly in a pink blast.

"You okay?" Jinx asked, joining them. Batgirl smiled quickly in response. "You get him out of here, I'll cover you."

"Wait, why am I getting out of here?" Robin demanded.

"In case you couldn't tell by the size of your lip or your eye, you're injured," Jinx replied, turning back to Batgirl. "Plan's going well so far, they didn't really expect us to blow the generator." Batgirl grinned.

"Where's everyone?"

"Central area, just like you predicted. Not sure how things are going…" Jinx trailed off, looking a little worried.

"Then we should head there," Robin announced. Jinx glowered at him.

"You really want to go into battle after being captured and beat up?"

"Course he does," Batgirl replied. Jinx looked at her. "Go, we'll be right behind you." Jinx frowned at Robin again, but nodded and raced off down the hallway.

"Did Jinx just listen to you?"

"Yes, and you're about to too," Batgirl replied, turning her glare icy. "You're getting out of here and calling Batman, in case we need help." Robin returned her glare and shook his head. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"I'm stubborn?" Robin asked innocently.

"Oh fine," she agreed. "But you'd better be okay at the end of this."

"Course I will," Robin replied, taking her hand. "After all, we're in this together, remember?" She smiled ever so slightly.

"Let's go."

~0~

They raced into the main area, where a fierce battle was already underway. They looked at each other for a second, momentarily unsure of what to do. Suddenly, Wondergirl was thrown from the fray, perused by a member of General Immortus's army. Batgirl threw a baterang, severing the robot's head from its body, and it fell to the ground.

"Thanks," Wondergirl said, catching her breath.

"Don't mention it," Batgirl replied, and the three turned to face another three robots. Soon, Robin lost sight of the two of them. The next hour became a blur. One minute, he was taking down Kyd Wicked with Superboy, the next he ducked out of the way of Kid Flash and his battle with Billy Numerous. Starfire momentarily appeared overhead, blasting starbolts at the enemy. One robot flew away from him in a flash of black energy. The rawr of Beastboy in Tyrannosaurus form could be head over the din. Suddenly, a flash-flood swept away most of the remaining army, with Aqualad at the lead. Suddenly Bumblebee was thrown past him, colliding with the wall and sinking to the ground. Robin looked the opposite direction to find Madam Rouge, now reaching out to claim a preoccupied Speedy as her next victim. Robin raced forward.

"Rouge!" he yelled, and she turned around to face him, his foot colliding solidly with her face before she had a chance to dodge. She fell to the ground, and Robin took his momentary advantage to dodge back out of her range and grab three disks from his belt. She got up, lunging forward in rage, but he threw his disks. She dodged two, but the third hit her squarely in the chest, freezing her solid. Robin breathed a sigh of relief, looking around once more for someone who needed help. Speedy had frozen Aqualad's flood with several of his arrows, and the HIVE Five, now back to five members, were dispatched. He heard a scream from behind him and spun just in time to catch Jinx as she was flung from the battle across the room.

Mallah was advancing on the stirring form of Beastboy, who was lying in a heap of rubble. However, Batgirl leapt up and caught him around the neck, putting him in a choke hold. Mallah grabbed her wrist, clenching his fist around it and throwing her off him, and she skidded across the floor. Robin ran over to help, but was caught up trying to get around the new "ice-sculpture" in the middle of the room. Instead, Starfire flew in, blasting Mallah with her starbolts. Mallah roared in rage and knocked her out of the sky with several chunks of ruble. He grabbed his lazar-gun, but was stopped when ropes wound themselves around his body, glowing red and binding him head to foot and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Booyah!" Cyborg exclaimed, surveying the defeated villans. Batgirl smiled slightly before wincing and clutching her arm. Robin, who had finally managed to make his way around the ice, rushed forward to support her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Pretty sure I dislocated my wrist," she replied. Starfire glared at the two from her place on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Speedy demanded, rushing over. She looked at him curiously.

"I am fine," she replied. He held out a hand to her, which she took and he pulled her to her feet. Starfire flashed him a quick smile. The doors blasted open, and the Titans who were still able to fight spun, around to face the Justice League. The League stopped in the doorway, staring at the defeated villains before them, and the Titans standing in the middle of it all.

"What happened here?" Superman demanded. The Titans looked at each other, quickly deciding on the best course of action.

"Nothing," they all replied in their best innocent voices.


	13. Back to Normal

Robin ducked through the crowded main room of Titan Tower. The Justice League had accompanied them back, and spent the last several hours interrogating them about their actions over the past week and a half. Finally Batman had interrupted Superman's latest inquisition by asking if anyone had seen Superboy recently, leading Superman to go off in search of his way-ward sidekick. Robin spotted Batgirl sitting in one corner, and walked over to join her.

"Hey," he said. She smiled. "How's your arm?"

"Never better," she replied, holding up the brace on her wrist. He grinned. "So how're you feeling, Boy Wonder?" Robin frowned slightly at the nickname.

"Tired," he replied truthfully. "Haven't really slept since two nights ago."

"Me too," she replied. "So how does it feel to be in the spotlight?"

"I'd really wish they'd just leave me alone," he retorted. "Do they really need to all tell me how great I've done, how proud they are, how I shouldn't have tried this on my own, and how they hope I'm okay?" She snorted.

"I guess so," she replied. "You'd really prefer to be ignored? Because I seem to remember a certain someone being pretty…" Robin shoved her playfully and laughed.

"I guess not then," he admitted. "But it might be nice if someone realized we need to sleep." Batgirl opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "Other than the omnipotent Bruce of course."

"Well of course."

"By the way, have you seen Superboy recently?" Batgirl smiled.

"Nope," she replied. "Donna dragged him off a while ago."

"You don't think…"

"And you call yourself a detective Grayson," she mocked, leaning her head back against the wall.

"I'm a perfectly good detective," Robin replied. "I simply don't want to be nosy."

"I'm not being nosy," Batgirl retorted. "And it's not like they haven't been gossiping about us for ages."

"I'm not saying I have any problem with **you** being nosy as long as you tell me what you find out." They both laughed, and settled back into silence as they watched the crowd in front of them.

"So…" Batgirl said, continuing to stare outwards.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked picking up on her slight change in tone.

"Nothing," she replied. "It's just that I'm going back to Gotham first thing tomorrow." Robin immediately glanced back at her.

"What?" Batgirl glanced back at him. Robin quickly understood. "So what's your dad think you've been doing all this time?" Batgirl rolled her eyes.

"Spending a week with friends who moved to New York a few years ago," Batgirl replied. "It's summer vacation after all." Robin grinned.

"That really works?"

"You got a better idea Boy Wonder?"

"I guess not." He leaned his head back against the wall. "Do you really have to leave so soon?"

"Dick, I have school in two weeks," she laughed. "I have homework I should be doing."

"Homework?"

"We don't all have the luxury of abandoning our secret identities when we feel like it," she replied before yawning and leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Why don't you ever quit it with the snide remarks?" Robin asked.

"I simply harbor some deep seated resentment," Batgirl replied, grinning. Robin laughed, stifling a yawn.

"Hope you'll get over it," he replied, yawning again. Batgirl's smile was interrupted by another yawn. She adjusted her position slightly, achieving a more comfortable position on his shoulder.

"In your dreams, Boy Wonder." Robin grinned, putting his arm around her shoulders and resting his head against hers.

~0~

"Where have you been?" Superman demanded.

"We can handle ourselves!" Superboy retorted, having just entered the room with Wondergirl.

"What have you two been doing?" Wonder-woman demanded, looking at their intertwined hands. The two teens glanced at each other, blushing slightly. Superman rolled his eyes as Wonder-woman glared at them.

"I will never understand how you handle two of them," Superman said.

"Badly from what I understand," Batman replied. Superman looked around.

"Where'd they get off to anyway?" Batman looked over his shoulder. Superman turned around and spotted the two teens sitting in the corner, dozing. "Aren't you going to wake them up?"

"No," Batman replied. Superman raised an eyebrow, but Batman was gone already.

~0~

Batgirl climbed out of the Batmobile, breathing in the Gotham air. It was surely not the cleanest or freshest, but something about it was always refreshing. She turned around, waving to Batman as he drove away. Quickly, she climbed through her second story window, and pulled out her suitcase she had "brought with her" from under her bed, and pulled out a yellow blouse and a knee length pleated skirt. She changed quickly once more, pulling off her mask and placing her glasses back on her face. After stowing her costume away, she hurried towards the door, checking her appearance in the mirror quickly. She grinned. _Return of little Ms. Perfect._ She tucked her loose hair behind her ear, and Barbra Gordon hurried down the stairs to make something for dinner. After all, her father usually failed to question things when his mouth was full.

~0~

"Hi Dad!" Barbra exclaimed upon hearing the door open. Commissioner Gordon walked into the kitchen, smiling and giving her a big hug.

"Barbra honey, you didn't have to make dinner," he said, looking at the already set table.

"Think of it as a thank you for letting me go on my trip," Barbra replied, setting the meatloaf on the table.

"So how was your trip honey?"

"It was good, and it was really nice to see everyone again," Barbra replied, not faltering her smile at all. _It's not really lying; I'm just not talking about my friends who moved to New York._ "How have things been here in Gotham?"

"Surprisingly quiet actually," Commissioner Gordon remarked while starting to eat. "The villains are actually staying in jail…" Barbra smiled as her dad launched into a summary of the last few weeks.


	14. Gotham

Barbra was up in her room, immersed in the thick volume that she had planned to read during her week spent in Jump. Suddenly a buzzing filled her room. The reached into her desk and pulled out a small yellow circular device. She pulled out her mask and stuffed it on her face before answering.

"Yes?" she hissed. Robin's face appeared in the communicator.

"Can you talk right now?" he asked.

"Let me call you right back," she replied. She pulled off her mask, threw on a jacket, grabbed the phone and put it into her pocket and climbed out her window and onto the roof. Once she'd settled herself out of sight from the ground, she picked up the phone and dialed Dick's number. It had only rung for about half a time when he answered. "So what's up?"

"Nothing much, I just thought you might want to talk."

"So this is why you were so determined to give me the communicator?" Barbra teased.

"I will admit it was a plus," he replied. "But you deserve that communicator, you're diffidently a Titan. Even Starfire didn't object."

"Starfire seems a little extreme sometimes," she observed.

"She's just very excitable…"

"I don't mean in a bad way, I just mean that she doesn't seem to have much in between dislike and crazy friendly."

"I guess that's just Starfire," he replied. Barbra smiled.

"Though she seems much happier now for some reason," she replied.

"This might have to do with a certain archer we are all too familiar with," Robin replied. "I swear he's never actually in his own city anymore." Barbra laughed.

"Interesting twist there," she remarked.

"Lots of couples, with those two and Donna and Connor," he said.

"Yeah, there are now that I think about it," she replied, suddenly a little nervous.

"Yeah," Robin replied.

"So ha…" Barbra stopped mid sentence because she thought she heard a car drive up.

"Hey Babs, I was wondering if you might want to maybe…" Barbra heard a crash from inside the house.

"Dick I think something's wrong," she said quickly, hearing another crash. "I've got to go." She hung up the phone, scrambled back through her window, and raced across her room, depositing the phone on the bed as she went. She crept out of her room and down the stairs. The door was wide open, but there was no one in the entry hall. A maniacal laugh came from the kitchen. Barbra tip-toed over and peaked through slightly ajar door.

"And how are you doing today, Commissioner?" The Joker asked, cackling.

"What are you doing here?" her dad demanded.

"Just having a little fun, Commish," Joker replied. "Speaking of fun, where's that girl of yours?"

"She's not home," her dad announced. "The police will be here soon." Joker simply cackled again. Barbra looked around the hallway, grabbing a large brass candlestick.

"I don't think so," he said. "I'd say were perfectly alone, Commish." Joker suddenly raised a gun. Commissioner Gordon dove behind the kitchen counter as Joker pulled the trigger, but Barbra hit him in the back with the candlestick, sending the bullet into the ceiling instead as Joker stumbled forward. Barbra grabbed his arm, starting to twist the gun out of it, but her injured wrist suddenly filled with pain, making her hesitate just enough for The Joker to throw her off him.

"See, now this is more fun," he announced as Barbra stumbled backwards. She caught her balance and looked up just in time to see Joker level the gun at her. She started to dodge out of the way, but she knew she wouldn't be in time. BANG.

Something brightly colored collided with her, knocking her to the ground.

"Wha…" Joker said, surprised enough that he forgot to laugh. Barbra took full advantage of his surprise, kicking him squarely in the shin. Joker crumpled over in pain while Barbra leapt to her feet, and, ready for the pain in her wrist this time, snatched the gun, twisted it out of his hand and smashed it into his head. The Joker fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Barbra?" her dad asked, standing a foot away holding a frying pan over his head. She flashed him a quick smile, inwardly cursing. Her dad's gaze settled over her shoulder. Barbra spun around at face Robin, who was still lying on the floor. _No._

She raced forward, kneeling down next to him and rolling him over. His side was stained red, bleeding from a wound in his lower abdomen.

"Dad, please tell me the alarm was on," Barbra said, pulling off her jacket and wadding it to apply pressure to the wound.

"The police should be here soon," Commissioner Gordon assured her, grabbing the phone. "I'll make sure they're bringing an ambulance." Barbra nodded, turning her attention back to Robin. He was breathing shallowly, and his pulse was thready.

"Stay with me," she commanded in a whisper. Sirens approached, and Barbra sighed when she distinguished an ambulance among them. Soon, EMTs rushed in, she could hear them talking to her dad. They raced into the kitchen.

"Entry wound lower abdomen, through-and-through, lost consciousness immediately, pulse thready and breathing shallow," she informed them. The more composed one nodded, and if he found the situation odd, he didn't show it. He stepped forward and Barbra got out of their way, walking out into the hallway.

"How did he know we were in trouble?" her dad asked her. Barbra laughed hollowly.

"You're really going to question how Batman and Robin function?" she asked. The EMTs rushed by, pushing Robin on a stretcher. The composed one from earlier turned to them.

"Are either of you coming?" he asked quickly.

"Yes," Barbra replied. The EMT looked at her dad, who nodded before sending her a look that clearly said, "We'll talk later." Barbra nodded and followed the EMT out of the house.


	15. Recovery

Robin slowly drifted back into consciousness. Immediately he registered that it hurt to breath. _At least that probably means I'm not dead._

"You awake?" he sighed as soon as he heard her voice. She was okay. He opened his eyes, turning his head to see her. She smiled, reaching forward and giving his hand a quick squeeze before sitting back in her chair again. "How do you feel?"

"Not good," he replied. She frowned, opening her mouth to say something, but caught herself.

"Well, I wanted to thank you, Robin," she said quickly, smiling in a formal way. Robin groaned nodded. _Right, Robin doesn't really know Barbra Gordon._

"Don't mention it," he replied.

"I hope you feel better," she said. "I'm really sorry you got hurt."

"I just have a saving people thing," Robin replied. "Don't worry about it."

"Well…" Barbra looked into the hallway, then leaned in and hugged him. "Bruce will be here in a few minutes to get you out of here. I've got to deal with my dad, but we'll talk later."

"Glad to have helped you," he said as she pulled back.

"Thank you again Robin. I hope I'll see you soon," Barbra flashed him a large genuine smile before leaving the room.

~0~

"So Barbra," Commissioner Gordon said as they drove home. "How well do you know Robin?" Barbra rolled her eyes.

"Dad, I've only met him five or six times!" she protested.

"Really?"

"Dad, if this is about how I gave him a hug, you may have noticed how he saved me from being **shot**," Barbra explained.

"Honey, I'm so sorry that something like this happened," he said immediately. "You know I wish I didn't bring my work home with me."

"Its fine," she assured him. "Everyone wound up okay in the end."

"Barbra, its okay to admit you're scared." Her dad glanced over at her for a second.

"I know Dad," Barbra said, leaning her head against the window. "It's just easier not to think about it."

"Honey, you handled yourself very well," Commissioner Gordon replied, "Amazingly well actually. What you did to The Joker… How did you learn that?"

"I just saw something like that on TV," she admitted, turning back to face her dad. "I guess I just snapped when he shot at me. I realized then that if I didn't do something, he was going to kill us."

"Its okay honey, its okay," he comforted her. "We're all okay."

"I know Dad," Barbra replied as they pulled up to their house. As they walked into the hallway, Barbra looked back at the door, which had been knocked off its hinges.

"Honey, I have to go to work now, alright?" Commissioner Gordon said, watching her carefully. "I have two officers around the house and Lieutenant Kingly will stay here with you."

"Okay Dad," she said, giving him a hug. "Stay safe."

"I will honey," he replied as he left.

"Lieutenant, I'm going to go upstairs and read," Barbra said. "Will that be okay?"

"After the day you've had, I'm not going to make you stay down here and be reminded of it," Lieutenant Kingly assured her, flashing her a kind smile.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him before rushing upstairs. She locked her door behind her, put on some light music and tuned off the lights. Within five minutes, Batgirl crept out of the window and into the night.

~0~

Batgirl zoomed into the Batcave, jumping off her motorcycle the second it stopped. She raced into the main room, running into a large blue form.

"Batgirl?" Cyborg asked, grabbing her shoulders to hold her up. "You heard?" She nodded.

"Do you know what exactly happened?" demanded Starfire, who was standing just behind Cyborg with the rest of the Titans.

"D…R…He was shot," Batgirl said, barely able to admit it. It was all her fault. "Joker shot him defending Barbra Gordon." Beastboy frowned.

"Who's Barbra Gordon?" he asked. Batgirl opened her mouth, fully intending to say "me," but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"The commissioner's daughter."

"What was he even doing here?" Cyborg asked, looking at Raven as though she might have the answer.

"Defending Barbra Gordon from the Joker," Raven replied simply. Beastboy frowned.

"That's just…" Beastboy started to protest, but Cyborg stopped him.

"This really isn't a good time for you're stupid arguing," he snapped.

"I think we should go find this Barbra and give her a piece of our heads," Starfire suggested. Batgirl sighed.

"Let's go," Cyborg declared. Batgirl opened her mouth to tell them. _I deserve the blame._

"This was not Barbra's fault," Batman said, walking into the room. He jerked his head over his shoulder, and Batgirl dashed past him.

"How's Robin?" she heard Cyborg ask from behind her as she ducked into the room, which was decorated much like a hospital, where Robin was lying in a bed.

"Amazing how quickly you found out," Robin joked feebly.

"Still feeling alright?"

"I'm already feeling better than I last saw you," he replied, smiling. Batgirl smiled back. _Can't worry him, he's just been shot._

"Glad to hear it," she replied.

"Listen, Babs, I…" Robin trailed off, trying unsuccessfully to sit up. Batgirl moved from her place at the door and rested a hand on his shoulder. They locked their gazes. Batgirl reached out and took his hand.

"ROBIN!" Starfire exclaimed, leading the Titans into the room.

"Are you…" Cyborg trailed off. The four Titans looked at Batgirl and Robin.

"Just concentrate on getting better, okay?" Batgirl requested. Robin nodded, and she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back later." She smiled at the Titans, and walked past them and out of the room.

"What was that?" Beastboy asked, staring after her. Raven glared at him.

"You're all idiots."


	16. Midnight

Dick woke with a start, sitting up and looking around frantically in the dark room. He sighed, realizing it was just a dream. He adjusted his position so he could lean against the wall while he calmed himself down. He took a final deep breath and looked at the clock. 12:24am. He'd slept longer than usual. At least he hadn't yelled. He hated bothering Alfred and Bruce. He surveyed his once more familiar room. He'd decided to stay at the Manor as he recovered, since Robin would be out of commission for at least a couple months. So for now, he was back to his fabulous existence as Dick Grayson, who had decided to come home for the summer after all.

Dick got up and crept over to his dresser and put on some clothes. He'd had a week of experience to figure out that tying to go back to sleep now was futile, or resulted in another nightmare. He felt another pang of longing for being at the Tower, where he knew no one would wake up and try to make him go back to bed. But at the same time, here at least Bruce would probably have the sense not to bother him. Immediately an idea popped into his head. If Bruce was out patrolling, Alfred would never think to look for him down there…

He changed his course to the study, slipping down into the Batcave. Dick smiled, surveying the dark room. Bruce had improved and added on to the cave while he'd been away, and the more adventurous part of him wanted to go exploring and try out the new toys. His more sensible side quickly reminded him that that wouldn't be a good idea. Normally he'd ignore this, but his sensible side had the support of the dull ache on his side from his healing wound. Instead he walked over towards the bat-computer.

When he saw there was already someone sitting there, he tried to backtrack, but she had already turned around.

"What are you doing up?" Barbra asked. She was wearing her costume, but her mask lay next to the keyboard.

"Just looking around," Dick replied. She raised an eyebrow. Dick looked away from her, walking over to the rack of various tools. He studied them for a few minutes, picking up a grappling hook and twirling it in his hands. Finally he caved to the glare he could feel on his back. "I couldn't sleep." He felt her gaze leave him, and turned to watch her. She had turned back to the computer. He set the grappling hook down and walked over.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"Just some small time robberies," she replied, not looking back at him. Dick frowned.

"Why are you here at midnight working on small time robberies?" he asked. Barbra sighed, ceasing to type.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" Dick asked, leaning on the table facing her. Immediately he realized it was a bad question. Barbra turned to face him, looking him in the eye.

"I think you know," she replied.

"Yeah I do," he agreed before he dropped his gaze to his lap.

"I'm sorry," Barbra offered after a few minutes of silence. Dick looked up at her, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Why?" he asked. She sighed, letting her shoulders droop.

"It's my fault," she told him. "If I'd just been faster, it wouldn't' have happened."

"What?" Dick asked, staring at her. _Was she really blaming herself for Joker's actions?_ Barbra hung her head.

"I tried to take Joker, but I didn't," she muttered. "If I'd just hit him harder, maybe…" Dick cut her off, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her to face him.

"I mean it Babs," he insisted. "Most people wouldn't have even thought on their feet fast enough to attack him."

"It wasn't enough," Barbra stated, looking him in the eye finally. Immediately Dick realized what she was getting at.

"Barbra Gordon, you are not honestly thinking that that wack-job should have shot you," he said, daring to believe it wasn't true. She broke away from his gaze again. Dick let go of her shoulders, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Babs, he couldn't have shot you."

"And why not?" she demanded, standing up to glare at him, suddenly defiant. "That's how it's supposed to work. You screw up, you deal with the consequences." Dick looked away from her, staring at the floor, unsure of how to go on. After a few seconds, he looked back at her, meeting her gaze.

"I couldn't have dealt with it," he admitted. "I would have felt so guilty for not being there to protect you, I…" He adjusted his gaze back to the ground. Barbra walked back over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Dick, you can't always be there to protect me," she told him, leaning down to look him in the eye. "It wouldn't have been your fault if I had been the one to get shot."

"But…" he protested, looking back up at her. "I know. But I can't help thinking if I hadn't been there, Joker could have killed you." Barbra smiled sadly.

"Well, you were there," she replied, leaning against the desk next to him. "And I owe you." Dick chuckled slightly.

"You bet you do," he joked. She grinned up at him, resting her head on his shoulder. The two settled into silence for a little while. Suddenly Barbra sat back up, looking at Dick skeptically.

"Why were you in Gotham?" she asked. "There's no way you could get here from Jump City in between the time I hung up and when… when you got to my house." His eyes widened and he rumpled his hair once more.

"Well, I was…I was sort of already on my way over," he confessed.

"Does this have anything to do with what you were saying on the phone before I hung up?" Barbra asked softly.

"I um… maybe," Dick said, swallowing nervously. She chuckled.

"Want to tell me what this is about?" she asked.

"Well, I was… I wanted to talk to you about…" he stumbled. She gave him a playful shove.

"Come on, you can tell me," she coaxed, leaning in towards him so they were only inches apart. He didn't lean back, staring into her eyes. Her expression faltered for just a second.

"I was just planning on asking you if—" Dick's sentence was cut off short when Barbra forward the remaining couple inches, bringing her mouth to his. He leaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She reached up and twisted her hand into his hair.

BANG. They broke apart, looking at the door to the garage. Batman walked in, nodding at both of them as though the sight of the two teens sitting in each other's arms on the desk in front of the Bat-computer at midnight was perfectly normal, and continued out of the cave. Barbra and Dick looked back at each other, blushing scarlet.

"So you wanted to ask me something?" Barbra said awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear and starting to move away from him. However, Dick kept his arms around her. She looked at him questioningly.

"I was wondering if you might want to go out with me sometime," he said, grinning. She laughed, looping her arms around his neck.

"So I guess you already got your answer, Boy Wonder," she replied.

"I think so," Dick agreed, leaning down to kiss her again.

**A/N: For all those who are reading this, YOU ROCK!, and thanks for sticking with my story. For those who have also reviewed, you are triple-ly awsome! THANK YOU again for reading!**

**-Vanessa**


End file.
